VTubers Girl Girl sells concerts, but is it “real?” Depends on who you ask

I am in A Hollywood concert has been sold, and I am the only one in the place of 1,200 people who do not know any of the songs. One of the actions has just ended, and everyone begins around the chanting and waving its light sticks. We do not have to wait for a long time: Co Maria appears, one of the main headlines. Not on the stage itself, but on a huge screen that extends its entire length. (It will never appear on the stage, because she is an exciting girl of 6669 years of blond vampires, and she is only in virtual reality.) Maria begins singing in Japanese. It seems that a developing man next to me seems about to tear.

Welcome to Fantastic Reality, a mini festival at the Vermont Theater that brings eight main works VTuber-all the anime girls with variable colors of the eye and hair-to a direct place, accompanied by IRL musicians. I am here to learn more about the reason for the fans ready to pay up to $ 180 (the cost of the VIP pass) for the privilege of watching these verbs personally, instead of their screens of their homes.

Photo: Erica Hernandez

If you have not seen before VTuber before, it may be just a matter of time. VTubers have been around for about a decade in Japan, as they host everything from online weather stations to the launch of iPhone, but they rose popularly outside Japan during Covid quarantine. If you want to see anything online – take, games, date – there is a VTuber version of it. The name is Portmano from “virtual YouTube”, and as it suggests, it is a creator or a video creator, but instead of showing their face, the audience sees an apparent or 3D image of 3D.

Technically, VTuber can take any look or theme (my favorite: Former Yakuza in prison lines that talk about organized crime in real life) But most popular are anime girls with nice sounds. Some of these VTubers also sing, and the output ranges from simple karaoke flows to full music videos. If VTuber is large enough, fans can also listen to their music on most of the main signs. Market grows: last week, the main VTuber Hololive agency Firing Registration mark. This brings us back to the concert.

For most of the exhibition for about three hours, there are three human musicians on the stage: the drama player, a guitarist, and a guitarist, who play accompanied by a motorcade of anime girls who appear on huge screens (one in the middle, they are on the right and left side). The Edi G, Monette, Monet, which is a purple -haired VTuber, can jump from Filter House to Gabber, and Joan, the actual human DJ that appears physically on the stage to close the night with a more enthusiastic group, can be easily mixed (music) in any Rav. But the meat of the show is what may be called an informal listener only “anime music”, and it sometimes deviates into songs ranging from the idiot meters (Issa Corva: “I hate coriander, darling / I hate you almost / as I hate coriander, darling) To the link in Pio on the equal (Cottonthailva: “I shouted to my GoONERS / who show “I love fans“).

Maria, the vampires of the aforementioned anime, began VTubing in 2020, in time to ride the increased popularity of quarantine when everyone was looking for a legal friend. Its content ranges from games to chat to ASMR videos (sometimes only) to Karaoke, and also released broadcasting services.

I saw some of her currents, but I didn’t know what to expect at her party. The promotional materials for this event promised the presence of a living human band, but how will you interact with them exactly?

So I arrange to talk to her a distance, two days before the show. The video call begins, and it appears to be like her in its currents. I mean this literally: I am talking to the Avatar that her fans see.